Toy Firearm Gets Banned From Flight At Gatwick Airport

A ruckus was stirred this week at London's Gatwick airport when two Canadian tourists went through security with a toy soldier carrying a 3-inch long firearm, according to USA Today.

British expats Julie and Ken Lloyd were on their way back to Canada when they were stopped by security when their carry-on bag showed a "gun" inside.

Ken told London's The Sun:

As soon as the figurine was pulled from the box, the security search officer contacted her supervisor. The SA80 rifle 'could not pass'. My wife Julie asked the staff to take a reality check. It's a 9in painted model with a rifle that is part of the figure. The supervisor was confident that, according to the regulations, a firearm is a firearm and cannot pass.

According to the Daily Express, Gatwick officials allowed the Lloyd's to travel with the toy soldier, but asked them to have the gun mailed to them by a customer service agent. The gun arrived 5 days later in Canada.
Ken Lloyd told The Sun: "Perhaps its story has become part of Gatwick's unofficial mythology - how unthinking regulations successfully protected the free world from the threat of terrorism."